About this blog

My name is Bill Hirt and I'm a candidate to be a Representative from the 48th district in the Washington State legislature. My candidacy stems from concern the legislature is not properly overseeing the WSDOT and Sound Transit East Link light rail program. I believe East Link will be a disaster for the entire eastside. ST will spend 5-6 billion on a transportation project that will increase, not decrease cross-lake congestion, violates federal environmental laws, devastates a beautiful part of residential Bellevue, creates havoc in Bellevue's central business district, and does absolutely nothing to alleviate congestion on 1-90 and 405. The only winners with East Link are the Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Washington and their labor unions.

This blog is an attempt to get more public awareness of these concerns. Many of the articles are from 3 years of failed efforts to persuade the Bellevue City Council, King County Council, east side legislators, media, and other organizations to stop this debacle. I have no illusions about being elected. My hope is voters from throughout the east side will read of my candidacy and visit this Web site. If they don't find them persuasive I know at least I tried.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Candidacy for 48th District

(I decided to post
this since it’s unlikely any of the media outlets I’ll send it to will mention
my candidacy)

The total failure
of the recent special legislative session to deal with the area's transportation
issues prompts me to once again file for Position No 1 in the 48th
District.My concern is not with
their failure to pass some “transportation fix” advocated by many but with
their total inability to recognize the insanity of allowing Sound Transit to
spend $20 billion over the next ten years on the fatally flawed Prop 1 light
rail extensions described in the below “Candidates Statement” for the Voters
Pamphlet.

As in my previous
“campaigns” for the legislature and Bellevue City Council I intend to use my
blog http://stopeastlinknow.blogspot.com
to attract voters and won’t be accepting any financial support.The blog currently includes 168 posts
with many detailing the total inability of the Sound Transit Board to provide
competent direction to ST policies, the failure of the Mercer Island city
council to recognize East Links devastating effect on their access to Seattle, and the
Bellevue City Councils willingness to go along with a light rail system that
will gridlock I-90, devastate those living along the route into Bellevue and
clearly violates federal environmental law with train noise ending forever the
quiet solitude of the Mercer Slough Park.

Unfortunately, the
blog posts have failed to “persuade” the Sound Transit Board of the financial
debacle from Central Link extensions or the Bellevue and Mercer Island city
councils to disallow the permits ST needs for East Link.Eastside legislators and those on the
legislature’s “Joint Transportation Committee” have also been unwilling to
challenge ST policies that have “invested” nearly $800 million in these fatally
flawed extensions since I ran in 2012.

As before I
recognize my chances to “win” are “limited”.It’s my way to “make a difference” by exposing the
inevitable debacle that awaits the area if ST is allowed to proceed.

Candidates
Statement

I’m running once
again to attract attention to my blog http://stopeastlinknow.blogspot.com
about the Sound Transit $20 billion Prop 1 light rail debacle.Blog posts detail why the Seattle tunnel limits light rail
capacity to the point where East Link will never be able to accommodate more
than a fraction of cross-lake mass transit commuters.Other posts explain that high light rail operating costs
will make the Central Link extensions to Lynnwood and Federal Way far too
expensive to operate for any rational ridership projections.The end result will be devastation along
the route into Bellevue, gridlock on I-90, and a “black hole” for the area’s
transportation funds.

About Me

My last elective position was class president for 25 “class of ’57” seniors in Armstrong, Iowa. I received an MS in engineering at ISU, worked at Boeing for 36 years before retiring in 1998. My wife and I moved into our current home in Bellevue in 1967 where we raised two daughters. Three years of unsuccessful attempts to persuade BCC to block EL are available on “extended session” meeting minutes. Copies of many were sent to all the media outlets, legislators, and others to no avail. I’m hoping this Web site will convince east side residents to query their own legislators.